As all
of Hilderbrand’s novels do, Summerland
takes place on the beautiful Massachusetts island of Nantucket. The novel begins by describing a group of
juniors in high school: Penny and Hobby
Alistair, twins, daughter and son of Zoe Alistair; Jake Randolph, son of Ava
and Jacob Randolph; and Demeater Castle, daughter of Lynne and Al Castle. With their parents’ close friendship, the
four children are interconnected nearly from birth. It is the love, hate, and indifference in the
interconnected worlds of the adults and children that lead to the tragic death
of Penny Alistair.
On
graduation night, the juniors decide to go to the beach to celebrate the end of
the school year, and their upcoming senior year. The four children, Penny and Jake (a couple),
Hobby (twin brother of Penny), and Demeater spend the evening partying on the
beach with their classmates. All are
drinking, except for Penny, who does not touch alcohol, in order to protect her
greatest gift, her singing voice. During
the evening, Demeater and Penny disappear into the sand dunes to use the
bathroom. Penny returns, extremely agitated,
crying and yelling, for what reason no one knows. The four children decide to leave the beach,
and Penny insists on driving her boyfriend, Jake’s, car, since everyone else
has been drinking. Penny herself is
bursting with anger, yet when confronted, will not to explain what has upset
her. More importantly, when Jake tries
to take the keys from her, she refuses to give them up. All enter in the car, Penny behind the wheel.
What
ensues is a catastrophic car accident.
In her rage, Penny drives wildly, eventually speeding up and taking the
car and its four passengers over a cliff.
Penny dies instantly from the crash, and her brother, Hobby, is in a coma with
sixteen broken bones. Demeater and Jake, the only two wearing seatbelts, come
out unscathed. What follows is the story
of the evening, the events leading up to it, and the results of the tragic
accident. Left up in the air throughout
the novel is what exactly happened between Penny and Demeater when they went to
the sand dunes, why Penny became so angry, and ultimately what caused the
accident. Each chapter is told from a
different point of view: one of the parents, children, or the town of Nantucket. We learn about each person, and their
relationships with the others in the group, all of which plays a part in the
unfortunate accident.
This
novel had a lot going on; many character, several subplots, and abundant
switches from the past to present.
Nevertheless, Elin HIlderbrand did an awesome job of putting it all
together and connecting it all into one theme:
acceptance (I will refrain from elaborating, as to avoid spoilers). The story flowed along nicely, and there was
rarely a slow moment. It was not the traditional
page turner (e.g., “I must know what happens NOW!”) but I was intrigued and
eager to find out what happened next.
Hilderbrand took a lot on with this novel, and her end product is a wonderful,
well-executed, touching novel that both entertained me and caused me to reflect
upon the characters and myself.
With so
many characters, I feel it worthwhile to mention my favorite. By far, I found Demeater to be the most
interesting. Demeater was a seventeen-year-old
overweight alcoholic, the one who provided the alcohol (a stolen bottle of Jim
Beam) to the teenagers the night of the accident. She longed to be accepted by her peers, yet
existed in a world of self-hatred due to her compulsive behaviors. Throughout the novel, in spite of the
constant lies that she told, I found that Demeater was the voice of brutal
honesty, both in her inner monologue and dialogue with others. In no way was she in denial about her
alcoholism, or her theft; she was boldly upfront about it. From pleasantly going
to work and eating dinner with her parents while drunk, to admitting that she
was “happier than ever” when intoxicated, and loved the thrill of stealing. I also appreciated her matter-of-fact perspective
on her relationship with her parents, and how she saw their ignorance and
denial with regard to her faults and secrets in a clear light. Demeater was smart, sly, and anything but
likeable. Nevertheless, I liked the edge
that she gave to the story, and that with her, I could both abhor her and feel
empathy for her.
With Summerland my joy in chick lit has been
rekindled. This book reminded me of what
this genre can offer, which is so often blinded with subpar authors who turn it
into contrite dialogue and silly, predictable stories (if I have to read
another book about some twenty-something that works for a magazine…). I also now have a greater appreciation for
Elin Hilderbrand, whom I formally thought of as a writer for the rich stay-at-home
moms (I mean, ALL of her books take place in Nantucket?), and I fully intend to
devour all of her other novels.
Would I
recommend this book? To a chick lit fan,
absolutely. As previously mentioned, it
gives this genre a new-found credibility.
In addition, it is a touching story that will make you think about the
people around you, and all of the unknowns and complexities that lay under our
blankets of life.
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